Ours scattered showers exactly last month, while temperature rise over two periods of extreme heat. Both have caused drought and drought extension across North Carolina.
Dry weather prevails
It rained heavily last month and as a result we had our driest June in more than three decades. The National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) reports a statewide preliminary average rainfall of 1.61 inches and ours June 2 is the driest since 1895.
The month is off to a good start, especially in the drought-affected Southern Coastal Plain. On June 2 and 3, a cold front bring rain more than 2 inches in some areas, including 3.48 inches in Wilmington.
After that, the moisture is almost lost, even during intense thunderstorms. A fast-moving storm surge on Friday, June 17 brought wind gusts over 40 mph over Piedmont and Sandhills, and it caused more than 240,000 power outages statewide. However, even the hardest hit areas rain less than half an inch when those storms pass.
During the last two weeks of the month, high pressure in place in the southeast largely blocked any front-end systems and prevented the shower from turning on in the afternoon, leaving us to experience an extended period of very dry weather. From June 17 to 30, Wilmington measured only 0.16 inches of rain and New Bern only 0.26 inches.
Overall, this month has also been a historically dry month for many areas, particularly west of Piedmont. Salisbury It recorded 0.22 inches of rain all month, making it the driest June there since 1954. HickoryTotal 1.22 inches of rainfall ranks as the 7th driest June since 1959, while Lincolnton reached 1.51 inches and was recorded as the 6th driest June on record.
At the beach, Tarboro received only 0.86 inches of rain in the third driest June in 130 years. Kinston had 1.55 inches and the 5th driest June in 50 years, while Newport record 1.67 inches all month for the second driest June since 1996.
For some eastern regions, June continues a dry spell that begins in spring, or even earlier. Lumberton is now 4.2 inches below normal for the past three months, the fifth dry period from April to June in the last century. As of January 1st, Greenville only about two-thirds of normal rainfall, ranking as the 3rd dry start rainfall in 86 years with observations.
Strong heat
The intense mid-month heatwave also raised our average temperatures. NCEI records a preliminary statewide mean temperature of 75.2°Franked as ours June 24 is the warmest in the past 128 years.
Locally, it is attached to the warmest June 5 in Lumberton with an average temperature of 80.1°F and the 14th warmest at Raleigh dating from 1887.
Our temperatures are regulated by a few days and nights that are cooler and less humid, including on June 19, when lows of the 40s in the Mountains and the 50s elsewhere. But that cool night came after a week of extreme heat, and it was only a short time before the mercury rose again.
Between June 13 and 18, high temperatures hit over 90 in parts of the state every day. In that period of time, Charlotte reached 98 degrees three times in five days. It was the warmest June weather there since 2015. Further west, Marion had a maximum temperature of 96 degrees on June 16, which was the warmest June temperature since 2011.
Mercury climbed even higher on June 22. Several areas south of Piedmont hit the century mark, including values of 101°F in. Charlotte, Fayettevilleand Laurinburg. It was the first hundred degree heat in Queen’s City in any month since July 2012. Year Raleighreached 100°F on June 22, which was the second consecutive summer of high temperatures after a peak of 100 degrees on August 13, 2021.
Unfortunately, history shows that when the heat rises in June, it tends to linger for the rest of the summer. In 2018, including the 10th warmest June on record, we saw 90 degrees until mid-September. And 2011 and 2015, both with hot Junes, ended. with our 2nd and 8th warmest summers respectively.
In other words, in North Carolina, there’s no such thing as cooling off early in the season. As we enter the warmest month of July, the same hot weather forecast will continue.
Dry language and expansion
Our hot days and limited rainfall leave most of the country feeling stressed by dry weather and drought. During June, unusually dry conditions (D0) spread across the western part of the state, while an extended drought in the Coastal Plains and a pocket of moderate drought (D1) appeared in western Piedmont.
Some of the main signs you may notice are your grass or garden growing slowly or not growing at all, and possibly leaves or lawn turning yellow or brown. While it is not uncommon to find that during our hottest summer days, the timing of those effects and the recent lack of rain have become noticeable, hence the name Unusually Dry.
It also affects farmers, especially as corn crops are entering an important silage period. Like silk, or thread-like filaments extending from an ear of corn, are pollinated, eventually forming seeds. But because of the high water content, silk seeds are very sensitive to a lack of moisture, and in times of severe drought, the silk fibers may not be able to emerge, resulting in incomplete kernel development.
As of June 26, USDA / NASS . Report only 39% of maize reached the silage stage, compared with a 5-year average of 50%. And some farmers have noted that corn leaves curl or turn brown – also a sign of moisture stress. Loss of season is one typical impact during Severe Drought (D2), and yield reductions are now possible for some crops in eastern North Carolina.
Surface water sources are also being affected by a hot dry June. Recent Streams most are below normal across the eastern 2/3 of the state, and many places in the Coastal Plain are well below their 10th historic percentile for this time of year.
Most of the large reservoirs in Piedmont have fallen about a foot below their seasonal target, and operators such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Duke Energy have reduced their discharge downstream to keep as much water as possible. reserves as much as possible.
While supplies from these reservoirs are now sufficient to meet demand, some coastal water systems that do not have such significant reserves have begun to implement water restriction measures. On June 16, Brunswick County recommends voluntary water conservation, including a proposal to reduce outdoor use during the day and alternate days of irrigation.
Historically widespread water restrictions have been mostly confined to our longest, multi-year drought events. Our current drought – which first started in the fall before easing but did not completely disappear during winter – has now persisted across parts of the state for 36 weeks and ranks as a drought. Our state’s fifth-longest drought since the US Drought Monitor began officially monitoring conditions in January 2000.
| Consecutive weeks of drought in NC | The drought begins | The drought is over |
|---|---|---|
| 155 | January 4, 2000 | February 17, 2002 |
| 117 | February 13, 2007 | May 5, 2009 |
| 100 | July 6, 2010 | May 29, 2012 |
| 53 | May 3, 2016 | May 2, 2017 |
| 36 | October 26, 2021 | in progress |
So how long will it last? It’s impossible to say for sure, but the years with the June drought provide some clues as to how this drought may progress and eventually, end.
Sometimes, we just have to wait for the tropics to send a storm our way in late summer. In 2011, the Coastal Extreme Drought (D3) improved significantly after Hurricane Irene in late August, and the 2019 coastal drought was carried out by Dorian in September.
In other cases, early summer drought sets the stage for worse conditions later in the year. In 2016, Severe Drought first appeared in the Mountains in June, and it finally degraded to Special Drought (D4) in autumn with many big forest fires on the whole scene. History 2007-09 drought also increased during the hot summer of 2007 before reaching extremes in the following dry fall.
With the worst drought conditions remaining on the coast so far, our best bet this year also seems to be a well-timed tropical storm or two, and that at least has a chance. seems possible, provided that forecast for above-normal activity in the Atlantic Ocean.
Of course, if our hot, dry June weather is a sign of things to come for the rest of the summer, we could experience more widespread drought and need for more rain across the country. a larger area for full recovery.
In any case, history tells us the heat could be here to stay this summer, and the pop-up shower alone won’t cut it down to replenish our lakes, streams, and lands. . So whether it is by watering in the morning or in the evening, use rain barrelor live with an ugly brown lawn for a while, it’s not a bad idea to conserve the moisture we have until the sky opens up again.
